Spear gun with spring type magazine



May 5, 1970 o. A. HEARTNESS SPEAR GUN WITH SPRING TYPE MAGAZINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 29, 1968 INVENTOR. OL/IF fl. HEQfPT/UESS 147' TOR/11E).

1970 o. A. HEARTNESS 3,509,862

SPEAK GUN WITH SPRING TYPE MAGAZINE Filed March 29, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 5, 1970 o. A. HEARTNESS SPEAR GUN WITH SPRING TYPE MAGAZINE File d March 29, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. OLHF H. HEHAT/UESS Q g .wzwz

14 TTOR'IUEX United States Patent 3,509,862 SPEAR GUN WITH SPRING TYPE MAGAZINE Olaf A. Heartness, 2348 SW. th St., Miami, Fla. 33135 Filed Mar. 29, 1968, Ser. No. 717,167 Int. Cl. F41b /00; F41c 25/02 US. Cl. 124-1 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A spear gun which includes a barrel having a firing chamber and an open lower portion forwardly of the barrel for lifting a spear from a horizontally arranged magazine which includes means to urge the spears into position beneath the barrel and load means to load the spear into the firing chamber.

This invention is of an improved spear gun which includes a magazine to hold a plurality of spears in side-by-side coplanar relation in a horizontal plane beneath a barrel having a downwardly opening mouth. The gun includes means for moving the spears from the magazine into the barrel and into the firing chamber of the spear gun.

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide a spear gun which includes a magazine with feed means for feeding spears into the gun barrel and positioning means for positioning the spears within the gun barrel, and loading means for loading the spears into the firing chamber of the gun barrel.

It is another object of this invention to provide a spear gun of the type described hereinafter which is simple in construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and which is well adapted for the purposes for which it is intended.

In accordance with these and other objects which will become apparent hereinafter, the instant invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a gun constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the gun;

FIG. 3 is a partial view in cross section taken along the plane indicated by the line 3-3 of FIG. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrow;

FIG. 4 is a view taken along the plane indicated by the line 44 of FIG. 3 and looking in the direction of the arrow;

FIG. 5 is a view in cross section taken along the plane indicated by the line 55 of FIG. 4 and looking in the direction of the arrow;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the means for moving a spear into the firing chamber of the gun; and

FIGS. 7 and 8 are views in cross section taken along the plane indicated by the line 77 of FIG. 4 and illustrating the operation of the spear lift mechanism device.

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view of the magazine, barrel and barrel housing.

FIG. 10 is an end cross sectional view of the magazine showing the guide means.

Referring to the drawings wherein like reference characters designate like of corresponding parts throughout the different views, there is shown a spear gun generally designated by the numeral 12 having a pistol grip 14 and a trigger 16 as well as a barrel portion 18 in operative relation to a laterally extending spear magazine 20 and a lower housing 22 for a spear lift mechanism. The lift mechanism is seen in FIGS. 7 and 8 as well as FIG.

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4; it is for positioning and lifting a spear as it is fed from the magazine to the barrel. Means are also provided, as seen in FIG. 6, for moving the spear rearwardly into the firing chamber of the gun.

As can be seen in FIGS. 7 and 8 the walls 32 of the firing chamber portion 34 of the barrel extend into the main barrel portion 18 and a spear such as that designated by the numeral 36 in FIGS. 6 and 7 is adapted to be loaded in the firing chamber so that one end projects thereinto a distance in the order of about five inches. The loading of the spear into the firing chamber is accomplished by the means 40 seen in FIG. 6. The feed means for moving the spears contained in the magazine laterally and thence upwardly by a lift means into position for loading by the loading means 40 is to be seen in FIGS. 7 and 8 as well as FIG. 4.

Referring to the feed means, it is seen that the magazine 20 defines a generally horizontal cavity 46- within which a plurality of longitudinally aligned spears are arranged in side-by-side relation the main barrel portion in a plane slightly lower than the horizontal plane through the center line of the barrel. The feed means includes a spring biased follower 48, which, generally, urges the spears in the magazine toward the barrel by means of a plurality of leaf springs 52, 56 and 58 which bear against the follower plate on the one hand and the cover plate 60 of the magazine. It is thus seen that there is a constant urging of the spears of the magazine toward the barrel as seen in FIG. 8 and into position, preferably against a stop 62, so that a spear urged by the spring and follower will be aligned with the main barrel and slightly beneath it. Guide means 64 and 66 are arranged, as seen in FIGS. 9 and 10 to coact with the follower plate 48 and constrain it to movement of translation in the horizontal planes of the magazine without binding.

The lift mechanism for the individual spears fed into position beneath the barrel by the feed means to raise the same into coaxial alignment with the barrel will now be explained. First, it will be seen in FIG. 8, for instance, that the lower half of the main barrel portion forwardly of the firing chamber 34 has been removed. Within the housing 22, a plurality of blocks 84, 86, and 88 are slidingly captivated for vertical movement only and the blocks are interconnected by a connector bar 89 which extends between the blocks. The upper surface of each block is of a symmetrical ogee type configuration having a central concave recess of a radius of curvature slightly larger than that of the upper portion of the main barrel length. Guide means 90 are provided for the slide blocks and springs 92 urge the blocks into the normal barrel defining relation seen in FIG. 7, As will be apparent on reference to FIG. 5, the connector bar 89 is provided with a pair of laterally extending pins 9494' which act as cams for a pair of wedge bars 959'5' interconnected at their lower ends by a slide plate 96 which is provided having a handle 98. The handle comprises an operator to move the slide plate rearwardly with respect to the housing from a normal position against a spring secured to the housing and connected to the lift mechanism. On the rearward movement the lift mechanism is adapted to be lowered as the slide block moves downwardly so that the feed means is free to move a spear from the magazine on to the slide blocks to be raised thereby to the position shown in FIG. 7. It will be apparent that the slide plate includes headed studs 96' which pass through a guide slot 97 in the housing floor. In the preferred embodiment the base for the center spring 92 is of a bridge type, i.e., having a raised center area, under which a U-shaped spring connector member 100 is slideable to connect to the wedge bar 95' and to the spring 100.

The loading means 40- to move a spear into the firing chamber will best be understood on reference to FIG. 6.

The spear 36 is preferably provided with an annular notch 102 to receive the cradle 104 on the upper end of a bell crank arm 106 which is pivotally mounted on a pin 108 secured to a carriage 110 which is slidingly captivated on the connector bar of the lift mechanism and urged by'a first spring 112 into a forward position and by a second spring 114 into a cradle lowered position. The lower end 116 of the bell crank is provided with a pull rod 118 having a handle 120 so that the following movement will occur after a spear has been positioned in the main portion of the barrel by the feed mechanism and the operation of the lift means. The loading takes place on rearward movement of the operator handle 120 which through the pull rod 118 causes the bell crank to rotate the cradle upwardly into the abuting relation with the spear. Thereafter, further movement will cause the carriage 110 to move rearwardly with the cradle in engagement with the recess in the spear, as the carriage 110 slides in the track 111 against the spring pressure 112 to load the spear into the firing chamber. Thereafter, release of the operator 120 will cause the saddle or cradle to rotate out of engagement with the spear and the spring 112 will move it to the forward position.

While the instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention, which is, therefore, not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent apparatus and articles.

What is claimed is:

1. A spear gun comprising a barrel including a firing chamber and a hood portion extending from the barrel portion defining an upper half barrel;

a horizontally-disposed magazine sized to hold a plurality of spears in longitudinal side-by side arrangement in a main plane beneath and parallel to the horizontal plane through the center line of the barrel;

means in said magazine to urge successive spears in the magazine to a position wherein a vertical plane passing through the longitudinal center line of the barrel also passes through the longitudinal axis of a spear in the barrel beneath the hood portion;

lift and positioning means beneath said barrel to raise each of said successive spears into the barrel; and

spear loading means to move each successive spear longitudinally into the firing chamber.

2. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said lift and positioning means comprises a housing beneath the hood portion and a plurality of interconnected slide blocks forming a unitary structure each block having a concavely recessed upper surface defining a longitudinal trough of a radius of curvature slightly larger than that of said hood portion and means biasing said interconected slide blocks into complementary circular-defining relation with said hood portion to lift a spear spanning the blocks into coaxial relation with said barrel.

3. The improvement as set forth in claim 2 wherein said biasing means comprises leaf springs captivated in said housing and guide means to constrain the slide blocks to vertical movement only.

4. The improvement as set forth in claim 1 wherein said spear loading means comprises a carriage carried in said spear gun and arranged for longitudinal movement between a first and a second position, spring means to urge the carriage in a first position and a crank arm having an operator at one end and a spear-engaging cradle at the other end for engaging a spear and moving said spear longitudinally into the firing chamber of the gun.

5. The improvement as set forth in claim 1 wherein said means in said magazine comprises a follower, spring means urging the follower at all times toward said barrel and in alignment with the longitudinal axis of the barrel and guide means for said follower to constrain said follower to horizontal movement only.

6. The improvement as set forth in claim 1 wherein said lift and positioning means includes a plurality of spaced blocks, biasing means to urge said blocks upwardly toward said barrel and a connector bar interconnecting said blocks to constrain the upper surfaces of said blocks to coplanar movement, at least two pins on said bar at spaced points and a wedge member in engagement with each of said pins and means interconnecting said wedge members so that on movement of the wedge members the blocks are constrained to vertical movement for lifting a spear resting on said surfaces into said barrel.

7. The improvement as set forth in claim 6 wherein spring means are provided to normally urge the wedge bars in a predetermined position with respect to said connector bar.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,262,400 7/1966 Kuhn 12453 ANTON O. OECHSLE, Primary Examiner W. R. BROWNE, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 12452 

